The other day I was contacted by a new reader who had a bunch of questions for me re: IGE. As I was typing the answers to a few questions out, I decided, hey, why not share with everyone?

And so…20 questions with IGE:

1. What type of work do you do? I work in the marketing department at a history museum. I design collateral pieces, event posters, update our website, oversee social media efforts and do pretty anything else that needs done. “Marketing” is code for “we do it all!”

5. Were you raised on healthy eating & exercise or did you develop this as an adult? Absolutely. Growing up, my Mom had a healthy, home-cooked meal on the table every night at 5:30pm, and if I wasn’t sleeping, eating, or in school I was usually dancing, which kept me very active!

6. Are you the saver and bill-payer in your house or is your husband on board, too? I run the finances as far as paying bills, etc., but Ben and I have the same views on saving for our future, as we’d both like to retire young and move to the Amalfi Coast.

9. What brand of pots and pans do you use? I use Calphalon pots and pans, although I have a small skillet from Target that I use for eggs. It’s cheap and thin which makes it heat up quickly and seems to cook them perfectly!

10. Do you count calories? Sometimes. I like Livestrong’s Daily Plate tool for tracking calories in and exercise calories out.

13. Do you hate washing dishes? Absolutely. In fact, I was banned from washing dishes when I was growing up. Between my two brothers and I, we each had to pick from either clearing the table, washing the dishes or loading the dishwasher after dinner every night. I backed up the sink trying to stuff too much food down the disposal one too many times, and was only allowed to clear the table or load the dishwasher after that. MUCH easier tasks, if you ask me! ;)

14. Do you hate the clean-up after cooking? I am a very messy cook, so yes, yes I do.

15. Are you a Type A, B, C, or D personality or a combination of? Total control/clean freak, anal Type A personality here. I’m fun. :)

16. What are your thoughts on wasting food? (Are you a member of the Clean Your Plate Club?) Card-carrying member of the clean your plate club here! However I don’t think there’s any point in cleaning your plate if you took too much food and are full before your plate is clear. I use salad-sized plates to avoid this problem!

18. Do you favor a certain brand of spices? Do you have a large assortment of spices? I usually buy Tone’s spices, and have near insane amounts of them.

19. Do you have dessert every day? Oh yes. Every day.

20. Do you have certain skin care and hair care products that you swear by? I usually buy whatever shampoo/conditioner is on sale at the store – making sure to get the volumizing formula of whatever it is.

So there you have it – 20 things you now know about me! Want to know anything else? Just ask. :)

In other news, the theme of the day has been strange encounters of the rabbit kind. As I poured my morning bowl of Total Raisin Bran (aka rabbit food,)

I noticed that nearly the entire bag was gone! Huh?! Strange, I thought to myself, as I’ve only had one bowl each morning this week…

Turns out Ben has formed somewhat of a nibbling habit and now loves TRB as much as I do! Guess I’ll have have to start buying two boxes a week, ’cause running out of this cereal is not an option. I am hooked!

Later, as I was sitting down for an early lunch of a Veggie Sausage Scramble, toasted Thin Bun and chopped mango on my back deck…

Peter Cottontail made an appearance 10 feet away from me! I actually hate rabbits (I’m still holding a grudge from when they ate ALL the tiger lillies I planted the first summer after buying our house) but it was still kind of cute. :)

My rabbit encounters continued this afternoon as Eloise and I were biking up to the gym on a trail by my house. One minute I’m cruisin’ along, the next minute I am dodging right. A big, fat rabbit was sitting smack in the middle of the trail and refused to move! Really, rabbit? Luckily I quickly recovered, dodged left, made it to the gym and ran through this crazy 45 Minute Treadmill Routine:

Time

Speed

Incline

0-2

4

1%

2-4

6.5

1%

4-7

7

1%

7-9

7.5

1%

9-10

8

1%

10-13

7

1%

13-15

7.5

1%

15-16

8

1%

16-19

4

1%

19-22

7

1%

22-24

7.5

1%

24-25

8

1%

25-28

4

1%

28-34

7

1%

34-38

7.5

1%

38-40

8

1%

40-43

4

0%

43-45

3.5

0%

Total

4.5 miles (ish)

This started out as a classic 3-2-1 Routine (3 minutes at a manageable pace, 2 minutes at a more challenging pace and 1 minute at a highly challenging pace) but since I decided I was bringin’ inclines back (a la Justin Timberlake) to my treadmill routines, I had to pepper in a few walking breaks in order to survive. Even adding a tiny 1% incline to the routine makes everything SO much more challenging!

Oh, I also say 4.5 miles (ish) because I had to hop off the treadmill to use the restroom about 5 minutes in and forgot to check how far I had gone before leaving. Rabbits Rats!

The texture is really cool too. Like a cross between a thick fruit roll up and a chewy granola bar. Plus it’s really seedy, which I love.

This rabbit is much better than the others. :)

18 Rabbits actually sent me a whole variety package of their products to try. The granola bars and baby “bunny bar” granola bars have been great grab-and-go items to supplement lunches or to split for a pre & post workout snack.

Not only are their ingredient lists top notch, but their products are made with sustainably grown ingredients and sourced from local producers and artisans. Plus they have really yummy flavors like Bananas Foster, Mango Strawberry and Cherry Apricot. Mmm!

18 Rabbits wants to share the yumminess with you too, and is going to send a variety pack of their granola bars to 1 IGE reader! All you have to do is pick out one of my 20 questions above and answer it by 5pm tomorrow,Saturday, June 18th.

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My name's Kristin and I'm an Iowa Girl! I eat as well as my sweet tooth allows, run as often as possible despite the crazy Iowa weather, and am usually dreaming about the next place I want to travel to! Read more...